Conso-lace-tion
by SineTimore
Summary: Beckett has to leave town for a few days and Castle is pouty about it.


**Disclaimer:** I have not been asked to be involved with anything Castle related since I posted last night.

**AN:** Two stories in two days. I am just as shocked as you are. Basically, this is where my mind is about these two like 115% of the time. If this is you as well, let's be best friends.

* * *

Kate's father doesn't ask her for many favors. He knows well just how hectic her life is. After she clears the time with Gates, which already surprises her given the short notice, she phones him back to let him know that she can be there. She hasn't been back to the cabin since right after her shooting but she always loves her time up there. Given all that's happened in her life since then, a few days of quiet sounds rather heavenly.

"Gates gave you the time off? Really?" Castle asks in utter disbelief.

"Yeah, she was surpr-"

"Can I come?" he interrupts in the tone of a five year old. Oh, and he's seen _that_ look before. He recoils.

"First of all, Castle, nice manners. Second of all, you promised Alexis that you'd be at that event at Columbia on Monday night. You can't just back out."

"Alexis is my daughter. She'll totally understand." He's fairly certain, of course, that she won't understand.

"How about we agree not to do anything that pushes me further down the list of your daughter's least favorite people, okay?"

"Beckett," he begins in a most sincere tone, "Alexis doesn't dislike you. She just doesn't know you all that well yet, but she wants me to be happy and she knows how happy you make me." His hands glide slowly around her waist and pull her in tight against him. "You make me very, _very_ happy…" He can almost feel her smile in response. This is a lock. She senses that he means it and that he's not just- "…so, can I come?"

"Castle!" she barks as she pushes him away. "Now it's a definite 'no'."

He pouts for the remainder of the evening.

* * *

The alarm wakes them in the morning. She wants an early start on the road and he has a meeting with Black Pawn in a few hours about continuing the Nikki Heat series. She takes a hot shower and makes her way from the bathroom to the closet when she hears his "Good morning, Detective."

She turns to find him standing before her with coffee in hand. She's thankful until he nearly spills them both when he sees what she's wearing. Her bathrobe hangs open revealing only a matching set of black lace lingerie. The sound he makes is unintentionally audible. "You're doing this on purpose, right? You're punishing me for my juvenile behavior last night by burning this torturous image of you into my brain for the next four days, right?"

"I'm not certain exactly what you mean, Castle," she replies with a grin in her voice that he can't see but can definitely hear. "I'm just getting ready for my day. Perhaps you should consider doing the same. The _hot_ shower will feel amazing on your skin…as it did mine." She takes her mug from his hand and presses by him, the swish of her bathrobe leaving his arm full of goose bumps. She's a cruel woman.

She's at the sink with brush in hand when he steps up behind her, having removed everything from his body but his boxer shorts. He pulls her hair to the side and places a kiss to the base of her neck. "You sure your shower got you entirely clean, Detective? Care to join me? Water conservation and all, we can do our part." He presses his body against her back as his hand finds rest on the soft skin just above her panties. His pinkie dances lightly across their front and her body immediately responds.

She clears her throat in an attempt to regain the composure which it just took about three seconds to lose. "Your, uh, concern for the environment is touching, Castle." She meets his eyes in the mirror in front of them, his filled with something that she doesn't have the time for right now. She hates time. "I'll tell you what," she purrs as she turns and caresses the bare skin of his chest, "you take your shower, let me finish getting ready, and then I'll give you your bon voyage present."

"Really?" he squeals in a voice quite contrary to his nearly naked masculine body. "What I mean, Beckett," he now states casually in a voice two octaves deeper than usual, "is that a present sounds just delightful. But, you're the one going away. Why do I get a present?"

He gets only a smirk in return. He has the water running in no time.

She returns to the bedroom soon thereafter to find him freshly showered, shaved, and dressed. He is a terribly handsome man. _Her_ man is a terribly handsome man. And, he smells divine. She steps into him, her hands clasped behind her back, and skims his neck with her lips. He tastes divine too. God, if this favor wasn't for her father, they would currently be using up more water than the Hoover Dam. She finally brings her arms around his body and she feels him relax into her.

"I don't care how adolescent this makes me sound. Four days without this seems impossible."

She inches up onto her toes so that she can reach his ear. "Check your coat pocket," she whispers before running her tongue over his earlobe.

His hand immediately pulls out something soft and…"Beckett, are these…are you…?"

"You seemed to take a liking to them when I was wearing them earlier, Castle. I had you pegged for more of a satin guy, but…" With that, his mouth is on hers. Her head is swimming. She needs to leave. She needs this. She needs him. She needs to leave. It's hard for her too. She can do this.

She pauses to regroup. "I take it that meant you like your present?"

"You are a cruel and extraordinary woman, Detective. While you're gone, please make certain that you get a lot of rest. _A lot_ of rest. A LOT. Capital A-lot. You're going to need it for when you come back to me."

"I will if you will, Castle," she promises. "Oh, and save us some hot water."


End file.
